Bobbin doffing mechanism



Nov. 29, 1966 L. 1.. CHABOT 3,287,889

BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 12, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

LEO L. CHHBOT.

BMW" QMM A TTORNEY Nov. 29, 1966 1.. L. CHABOT BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 12, 1964 INVENTOR.

LEO L.CHABOT.

A TTORNE Y NOV. 29, 1966 L, CHABOT BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 12, 1964 INVENTOR.

LEO LCHFIBOT.

A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,287,889 BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM LeoL. Chabot, Cumberland, R.I., assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale,Mass., a corporation of Maine Filed Feb. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 344,498Claims. (Cl. 5753) This invention pertains to mechanism for removingwound bobbins from the spindles of spinning or twisting machines or thelike and, more particularly, to the portable type of mechanism suitablefor moving to and passing along the forward rail of a plurality of suchmachines.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a novel doffingdevice in which the bobbin removal operation has been greatly simplifiedover those presently known.

It is a further object of the invention to realize an increase in thespeed of doffing through the simplicity of action in the discloseddevice.

A further object is that of effecting a reduction in cost of operationby providing a dofling mechanism with fewer moving parts than werepreviously required.

It is a still further object of this invention, through the compactnessof design, to make it possible to doif all of the bobbins on a frameincluding those at the starting and finishing ends.

It is a further object to provide a simple means for adjusting thelifting tension of the doffing unit and to sever effectively the strandof yarn extending between the wound bobbin and the spinning ring on awider range of yarn counts than has been heretofore possible.

These and other objects of the invention will become disclosed in UnitedStates Patent No. 3,070,949 to Du Buis et al.

In mechanical dolfers of the prior art, generally two basic methods forremoving the bobbin have been developed. The first involves steeplyinclined cams up which the butt of the bobbin is forced to a point whereit would topple over the end of the spindle. The second method presentsa popoff means whereby the bobbin is released and raised rapidly byvarious revolving devices by which tension is exerted beneath the bobbinbutt sufiicient to throw it upwardly from the spindle. The first methodrequires high pressure angles which result in fairly rapid wear andadded expense. It was also necessary to extend the raising cams over agreater width than was desirable which made dofling of the end bobbinson the frame difficult if not impossible. The second-mentioned methodhas also not been entirely satisfactory due in part to the excessivecost of the many accurately machined parts involved, and here, also, thepressure angles for triggering the lifting units have been great andhave caused considerable wear.

The simplicity of the preferred modification of the instant inventionhas resulted in the overcoming of the numerous undesirable featurespreviously pointed out. The number of parts necessary for operation hasbeen reduced which has lowered the cost per unit. Wear has been cut to aminimum because of fewer movable parts, and by compacting the liftingarea it is presently possible to doff even the first and last bobbin inthe row on a spinning frame. An unexpected and advantageous result hasbeen ,in the increased allowable dofiing speed made possible with thissimplified unit, and even with greater speed skips and othermalfunctions do not occur.

A further advantage is obtained by the accessible means for tensionadjustment whereby the lifting force may be regulated to insure thesevering of the loose end on all except the lower counts of yarn.

It will be readily seen that variations in design and mechanical detailsare possible without departing from the intent of the instant inventionand the disclosed embodiment is not intended to be restrictive. Theinvention will appear more clearly from the following detaileddescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation showing that side of the invention which facesthe spinning frame when in dofling position and illustrates in phantomthe relative position of two wound bobbins with the spindles omitted;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the doffing unit partially in section as seenfrom the forward side;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing the ejectingleverand the auxiliary lever in their two operative positions;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the mechanism shown in FIG. 4 with theauxiliary lever in the extreme safety and de celerating position; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 in FIG. 3.

Now referring to FIG. 2 a portion of a spinning frame is depicted by aring rail 11, a spinning ring 12 with a spindle 13 and a wound bobbin Bextending upwardly through the ring. A supporting rail 14 is carried bythe frame 15 and extends the full length of the frame parallel to therow of spindles.

A dofiing carriage generally designated 16 is supported for movementalong the rail 14 in a manner more completely outlined in United StatesPatent Nos. 3,070,949 and 3,077,725 and it is not deemed necessary toelaborate here. The movement of the carriage in the preferredmodification is from right to left as viewed from in front of a spinningframe. In this specification the words forward and rearward refer to thedirection of travel and forward is toward the left when facing thespinning frame.

A retractible facing plate 17, the operation of which has been clearlyexplained in the two above-cited patents, carries fastened to its lowerrearward corner a boxlike casing member 18 secured by screws 19 (FIGS. 1and 2). Fastened to plate 17 at the lower forward corner is a unitarybobbing lifting member 20 which has at the forward end a first cammingedge 21 which is set at a small inclination to the horizontal. As thecarriage 16 is moved forward along the spinning frame, the camming edge21 moves beneath the outer edge of each bobbin butt consecutively andthe inclined cam surface will break the drive contact between eachbobbin and its respective spindle.

A second camming edge 22 is in continuation of the first camming edge 21and is at a somewhat increased inclination (FIG. 1). Each bobbin willfollow the two cam edges and will be raised to a firing height which isjust sufiicient to be received by an ejecting means to be subsequentlyexplained. The height to which each bob-bin is raised by the two cams issmall relative to the length of the spindle from which it is to beremoved. This allows pressure angles of a minor degree which produce aneflicient means for breaking the drive contact and raising the bobbin.

Casing member 18 holds a horizontal shaft 23 rotatable in twoanti-friction bearings 24 and 25 which are supported by the two verticalside walls of the casing member 18 (FIG. 6). The shaft 23 extendsoutwardly at both ends from the casing 18 and upon the end facing therow of spindles is fixed, as by welding, an ejection lever 26 forpivotal motion when the shaft 23 is oscillated (FIG. 3). The ejectionlever 26 has a generally T- shaped cross section with the verticalportion 27 fabricated to add as little weight as possible, thus theholes 28 are made to remove a portion of the volume. The top of theT-section is a bobbin supporting surface 29 which is adapted to slidebeneath the bobbin butt to where the bobbin is finally ejected as willbe fully explained below.

The surface 29 drops away at the rearward end to a smooth curve forminga bobbin firing end surface 30 which will slip under the bobbin as it isejected from the spindle.

An auxiliary lever 31 is keyed to the opposing end of the shaft 23 andis adapted to pivot therewith and which in turn will pivot the ejectionlever 26 (FIG. 4). An auxiliary lever outer end 32 is pivotally fastenedto the lever 31 by a bolt 33. The bolt 33 is loosely applied and permitsupward angular flexing of the lever 31 and end 32, but a flat keysurface 34 prohibits downward angular flexing (FIGS. 4 and Two studs 35and 36 are inserted into the lever 31 and lever end 32, respectively,vertically to the upper surface of each. A coil spring '37 is hookedover the upper ends of the studs 35 and 36 and holds the auxiliary lever31 and the lever end 32 under tension in the straight condition shown inFIG. 4. A bumper 38 of rubber or like material envelopes the rearwardextended surface of the lever end 32. A ten sion spring 39 is connectedto the lever end 32 by a bolt 40 and to the facing plate 17 by a stud41. The spring 39 furnishes the lifting force for the ejection ofbobbins in a manner to be further explained. The stud 41 is tightened ina vertical slot 42 for adjusting the tension of the spring 39 (FIG. 1).

A restraining plate 43 is fastened in a horizontal plane to the casing18 by suitable means as by screws 44. The plate 43 is of a generallyL-shaped form and is fixed above the lever end 32 to stop the upwardmovement of that lever. A slot with turned-up prongs 45 is adapted toreceive the stud 36 (FIG. 5). In FIG. 4 the auxiliary lever 31 is shownin the extreme downward position which will rotate the shaft 23 so thatthe ejection lever 26 will be generally level or in a bobbin supportingposition. In the dotted line illustration the lever end 32 has struckand been stopped by the plate 43 while the ejection lever has assumed abobbin firing position (also shown in FIG. 3). The spring 39 is atensioning means for urging the ejection lever 26 toward the firingposition.

As the ejection lever is caused to fire by each spindle in order toeject the bobbin thereon, and as the force exerted by the spring 39 mustbe suflicient to raise and discard a wound bobbin, it will be seen thatthe repeated shock against the plate 43 would cause rapid wear andbreakage. To release a large portion of the shock of inertia and todecelerate the ejection lever 26 and auxiliary lever 31 gently, thelever end 32 is arranged to flex upwardly as shown in FIG. 5. When thebumper 38 first strikes the restraining plate 43, instead of abruptlystopping the rotation of the shaft 23, it allows an overrun against theyielding tension of the spring 37. This produces less shock and resultsin reduced fatigue failure and savings in a repair parts costs.

The ejection triggering means, whereby the ejection lever 26 is loadedunder tension and then released, will now be explained. A bevel gear 46is centrally keyed to the shaft 23 within the casing 13 (FIG. 6). Asecond cooperating bevel gear 47 is in mesh with gear 46 and rotatablyheld on a stud 48 by bearings 49. A studded collar 50 (FIG. 3) supportsthe gear 47 and oscillates therewith upon antifriction bearings 51 (FIG.6). Extending outwardly from andforming a part of the collar 50 is atrigger member 52 whose generally horizontal arm 53 will be in positionfor being contacted by each spindle as the dofiing mechanism ispropelled along the rail 14. The reciprocal gearing action of gears 46and 47 interconnect the trigger 52 with both the ejection lever 26 andauxiliary lever 31. As viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the movement of carriage16 in the direction indicated by the arrow will cause each spindle toturn the arm 53 toward the left and, through the gearing, draw theejection lever 26 downward to the bobbin supporting position and theauxiliary lever down to the extreme position shown in the solid linedrawing. As the arm 53 loses contact with each spindle, the tensionspring 39 takes control of the mechanism and the auxiliary lever 31 andejection lever 26 snap violently upward to the firing position wherebythe bobbin is ejected into a chute and receptacle (not shown) arrangedfor that purpose. As will be readily seen, the actuation of the firingtrigger is through contact with the base of each spindle so thatvariations in spindle gauge or even missing spindles or bobbins will notaffect the operation of this doffing mechanism.

In the'modification disclosed herein the dofiing mechanism is intendedto be moved in a forward direction as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1;however, if, inadvertently, the dofling carriage is moved rearwardlybefore finishing a doff, no damage will result. When moving in thedirection opposite to that of normal operation, the trigger arm 53 willstrike the last doifed spindle and,'without the built-in safety feature,will break the arm or other associated parts. But instead the arm 53, bymoving in reverse, will rotate the shaft 23 (FIG. 5) in acounterclockwise direction and through the-knee-action of the auxiliarylever 31 allow passage of one orrnore spindles in reverse withoutdamage.

In operation, referring to FIG. 1, the bobbin drive between the spindleand bobbin is broken by the cam edge 21 and the bobbin is raised higherby following the edge 22. As the bobbin nears the highest point on theedge 22, the arm 53 strikes the spindle and, through the gearing, willdraw the ejector lever 26 and the auxiliary lever 31 downward againstthe spring 39 tension. The bobbin is then supported along the horizontalplane of the surface 29 to nearly the curved end 30 at which point theholding effect of the spindle is passed and the trigger 52 is releasedwhich causes the ejecting lever to fire the bobbin upward from thespindle. The inertia of the rapidly fired parts is absorbed by theflexing knee-action of the auxiliary lever 31 together with the rubberbumper 38 when striking the restraining plate 43.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to beunderstood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number ofways. The invention is, therefore, not to be limited to the precisedetails described,- but is intended to embrace all variations andmodifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention and thescope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for dofiing wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which ineludes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a bobbin drive breaking camsurface and a bobbin lifting cam surface, a bobbin ejecting means beingmounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member, saidejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbing ejection lever, andan ejection trigger member being adapted for loading and releasing saidejection lever through successive contacts with each of said spindles.

2. A mechanism for dotting wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member com-prising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal and a second carniming edge incontinuation of said first camrning edge and disposed at an increasedinclination to said first edge, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted infollowing adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removingindividual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting meansincluding a spring tensioned ejection lever, and an ejection triggermember for loading and releasing said ejection lever, said ejectiontrigger member being actuated successively through contact with each ofsaid spindles.

3. A mechanism for dotiing wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal and a second camming edge incontinuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increasedinclination to said first edge, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted infollowing adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removingindividual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting meansincluding a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said lever beingmovable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firingposition, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing saidejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles.

4. A mechanism for doffing wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to saidfirst edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to afiring height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship -to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said lever being movablebetween a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position,tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, and anejecton trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection leverthrough sucoessive contact with each of said spindles.

5. A mechanism for dofling wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and .a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and dis posed at an increased inclination to saidfirst edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to afiring height, .a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having abobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejectionlever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbinfiring position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firingposition, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing saidejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles.

6. A mechanism for doifing wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to saidfirst edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to afiring height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having abobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejectionlever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbinfiring position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firingposition, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing saidejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles,said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever tosaid supporting position against the forces of said tensioning means.

7. A mechanism for dofling wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bob-bin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to saidfirst edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to afiring height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having abobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejectionlever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbinfiring position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firingposition, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing saidejection lever throngh successive contact with each of said spindles,said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever tosaid supporting position against the forces of said tensioning means,said ejection lever moving violently toward said firing position whenreleased by said trigger member.

8. A mechanism for doffing wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to saidfirst edge forming a Ibobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin toa firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having abobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejectionlever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbinfiring position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firingposition, an auxiliary lever connecting said tensioning means and saidejection lever, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasingsaid ejection lever through successive contact with each of saidspindles, said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejectionlever to said supporting position against the force of said tensioningmeans, said ejection lever movable violently toward said firing positionwhen released by said trigger member.

9. A mechanism for doffing wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination of saidfirst edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to afiring height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having abobbin supporting surfiaceiand a bobbin firing end surface, saidejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and abobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward saidfiring position, an auxiliary lever connecting said tensioning means andsaid ejection lever, said auxiliary lever being centrally pivotalagainst restraining tension ifor gently decelerating said ejectionlever, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing saidejection lever through successive contact with each .of said spindles,said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever tosaid supporting position against the force of said tensioning means,said ejection lever moving violently toward said firing position whenreleased by said trigger member.

, 10. A mechanism for dofling wound bobbins from a row of spindlessupported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin liftingmember, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed atan inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contactwith the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of saidfirst camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to saidfirst edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to afiring height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in followingadjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individualbobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means includinga pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having abobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejectionlever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbinfiring position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firingposition, an auxiliary lever connecting said tensioning means and saidejection lever, said auxiliary lever being centrally pivotal againstrestraining tension for greatly decelerating said ejection lever, anejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection leverthrough successive contact with each of said spindles, said triggermember being adapted for drawing said ejection lever to said supportingposition against the force of said tensioniug means, said ejection levermoving violently toward said firing position when released by saidtrigger member, and reciprocal gear means interconnecting said triggermember with said ejection lever and said auxiliary lever.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,070,949 1/1963Du Buis etial 57-53 3,116,587 1/1964 .Du Buis et a1. 57--53 3,148,495 9/1964 King et a1 5753 FRANK I. CO HEN, Primary Examiner. J. PETRAKES,Assistant Examiner.

1. A MECHANISM FOR DOFFING WOUND BOBBINS FROM A ROW OF SPINDLESSUPPORTED ON A TEXTILE MACHINE WHICH INCLUDES A UNITARY BOBBIN LIFTINGMEMBER, SAID LIFTING MEMBER COMPRISING A BOBBIN DRIVE B REAKING CAMSURFACE AND A BOBBIN LIFTING CAM SURFACE, A BOBBIN EJECTING MEANS BEINGMOUNTED IN FOLLOWING AFJACENT RELATIONSHIP TO SAID LIFTING MEMBER, SAIDEJECTING MEANS INCLUDING A PRIVOTALLY MOUNTED BOBBIN EJECTION LEVER, ANDAN EJECTION TRIGGER MEMBER BEING ADAPTED FOR LOADING AND RELEASING SAIDEJECTION LEVER THROUGH SUCCESSIVE CONTACTS WITH EACH OF SAID SPINDLES.